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February 14, 2015

Filthy Interview - 'A Forest of Stars'

Back at the end of January, Trevor reviewed A Forest of Stars latest album, Beware the Sword You Cannot See, of which he bestowed a mighty 10 out of 10. Now, he's had the great honor of interviewing the band, and I can tell you that it's a mighty fine read!

Interview by Trevor Proctor

LoF: Greetings
- first and foremost, thank you very, very much for agreeing to an interview
with The Lair of Filth – it’s an honour that’s greatly appreciated as I’m sure
you’ll all busy preparing for the launch of your latest album, “Beware the
Sword You Cannot See.”

The
Gentleman: Well, more than anything, thank you for taking the time to interview
us! We deeply appreciate anyone who takes any interest in our silly little
band.

LoF: For
those who may not be overly familiar with the band could you please tell us a
little about A Forest of Stars and its current membership?

The
Gentleman: Well, there's a question and no mistake! We are a band; we started
as four, after two had mulled it about for a fair few years. Then, as needs
must, more were added and sometimes subtracted until we come to the latest
version which is currently running on seven people. We call ourselves “The
Gentlemen's Club of...” because we are a collective, but also because that prefix
allows us to include people who are not in the band and playing instruments on
stage, but who are of equal importance to the group and without which we
couldn't exist; for instance Ingram “The Projectionist” who creates our videos,
photographs, lighting and projections, or Lord Grum, who works on our
art/design, or Robert Hobson from Silent City, who we've worked with in some
crucial capacity or other since the inception. There are many more, obviously,
but they didn't pay me enough to get a mention. And so, we all hang out at the
Club, messing about getting drunk and making fine cuisine, and maybe once every
two years – given the odd hiccup – we actually manage to pull ourselves out of
this continuos stupor and record an album. It's a social thing as much as an
art thing, methinks. Oh, and we're Victorians, obviously. And there's something
to do with Black Metal in there too, I seem to remember. Do try to keep up!

LoF: Your
music is hard to define due to its many changing tempos, styles, etc. which I
feel is one of many positives about your music - how would you classify the
band’s sound to a potential new listener?

The
Gentleman: Honestly, we wouldn't. The need to label a band's sound is very
important when trying to describe how something sounds using only words
(instead of the music as intended), so we fully appreciate that that is not an
acceptable answer. We came up with the idea of psychedelic or progressive black
metal as a catch-all term, but it doesn't really give the full picture. The
only thing for sure is that it is black metal at the very heart, and everything
else is bolted on depending what mood we are in. Ultimately, we'd invite the
listener to, err, listen, and make their own mind up without us interfering in
the process – music is a very personal thing.

LoF: I
was fortunate enough to review “Beware the Sword You Cannot See” for The Lair
of Filth and am extremely impressed – how happy are you with the finished
recording?

The
Gentleman: Definitely the best thing we have done so far, but that is about as
cliched as you can get for a band when presenting their new album. We're very,
very proud of it, both the work we put into it beforehand, and the result of
that work once it was finished. We've always said, as long as we're happy with
it, that's really all the matters; everyone else is free to make their own
conclusions!

Curse:
Personally, I couldn’t be happier with the album. Lyrically and thematically it
is all I hoped it would be for my part. That’s not meant to sound at all
arrogant, just satisfied with the results!

LoF: Your
last album “A Shadowplay for Yesterdays” received wide-spread acclaim from
media and fans alike – do you feel this latest album will be as well received?

The
Gentleman: I have absolutely no idea and speculating is pure folly. If you try
to predict these things – or worse, calculate how you write to incorporate
these things – then that way madness lies. Of course, none of us hope it sinks
without a trace, but who knows? Perhaps standards of taste have actually gotten
better over time; in which case, we are stuffed.

Curse:
Ha ha, I don’t know – we have always created for ourselves first and foremost.
If others should find attraction of otherwise in our work, then that is simply
a bonus.

LoF: A
Shadowplay for Yesterdays transported the listener to the Opium dens of
Victorian London – what’s the setting for the new album and what’s its overall
theme?

Curse: Victorian Bradford, perhaps –
though I was born in the South, I am a born again Yorkshireman and have lived
here the majority of my life. I don’t think that it would be unfair to say that
there is a very Northern feel to my lyrics and outpourings; I would be unhappy
if it were any other way. As regards the new album, the overall theme is that
of death and the fears and tribulations that may well go with it. Premature
burial, suffocation. Deep, damp earth. Maggots, worms, grubs. Earwigs in your
veins. There is no setting as such for lyrics, more of an overarching feeling
of death, dread and disorientation. Oh, and a little incitement of religious
hatred. Par for the course, then!

LoF: I’m aware the album was recorded, mixed and
mastered at Silent City Studios in Leeds, is it a studio you’ve used before and
who produced the album?

The
Gentleman: It is indeed! The first two albums were done with the good ship
Robert Hobson, with only the third almost entirely by ourselves. I feel I must
add that this current album was actually recorded by HH Bronsdon, and a damn
good job he did too – Silent City handled the mixing and mastering. Production
was mainly HH Bronsdon, with input from Kettleburner and myself, but really,
that is something that all the group have a large say in and so that is how we
like to credit it.

Kettleburner:
I love going to Silent City, it’s based in a quiet spot by the side of a farm a
few miles from some of our homes and Rob’s a good friend who knows us well. It
is quite interesting to read back on mix notes from the albums. To take a few
excerpts:

“The feedback,
wailing synth crap, etc should definitely be allowed to hang around and
gradually die over the start of the next part”

“actually, the 'coffin' bit is fine
- think it was my ears.”

“make it more symphonic”

“Noisy high
pitched space radio signal synth could be louder, please! “

“We need
something to really punctuate the final chord (do you have a gong handy?)”

LoF: Alex
CF is the creator of the albums extremely eye-catching artwork, how did he come
to work with the band and has he previously worked with you?

The
Gentleman: He actually came highly recommended by a friend of ours (hello
Gerrit!) at the label; that was the first time we'd heard of him, much to our
own remiss. And really, Alex has surpassed our wildest dreams with the result,
it's an utterly magnificent landscape.

Curse:
Alex’s work on our album was beyond what we expected – we gave him a fair
number of pointers and chunks of lyrical concepts, and he came back with something
that encapsulated it all in such a final and exact fashion that we were and
remain amazed. Top class work!

LoF: Does
having a membership of seven complicate or lengthen the recording process and
does everyone play a part in writing new material?

The
Gentleman: It is impossible to write a song with all seven people at once, and
though I'm sure someone out there can, we've never even bothered to try. We
usually start by writing individually or in pairs, then once the song is
fleshed out as far as it can be it's offered up for the whole group to put the
polish on and make it sound “whole”. Some songs are mostly finished by the time
they come to the forum, others just the barest of ideas, but it's all good
fodder in the end. We do have quite a punishing rate of rejection, though
(mutually and democratically agreed upon!) which I suppose is our attempt at
keeping up standards, though nowadays, we've honed the instincts enough to know
quite early on when to stop flogging the dead horse. I hope...

Kettleburner:
Indeed, some horses you can’t even lead to water…

Curse:
I am left in control of the lyrics, though they are all passed on to the band
before final use to make sure that no one hates any particular sections TOO
much. As regards the music, I do stick my oar in now and again, but try to
leave the vast majority of it to the musicians. I try to do my job, and I know
they can do theirs, so my interference is minimal. However, if The Gent,
Kettleburner and the others approached me with a brit-pop album, there would
definitely be ‘trouble’ as Robocop would have it.

LoF: You’re
currently signed to an excellent label in Lupus Lounge, (Prophecy Productions)
I’m aware they also released your album “A Shadowplay for Yesterdays” – how did
you come to be signed by them and can we expect future releases from the same
label?

The
Gentleman: Oddly, they've been badgering us to join them right from the first
album. We were flattered, but as we were signed to another label at the time
(the excellent Transcendental Creations), we felt it would be rude to simply
just jump ship. By the third album, it was getting difficult to ignore, and
with the good grace and kind permission of TC, we signed to Prophecy. Honestly,
we love Prophecy intensely, we could not be happier with them and we shall be
releasing many more albums with their cooperation and excellent help. We
wouldn't have it any other way.

Curse:
Seconded – Prophecy have been very good to us, and are very genuine, music
loving people. It is a pleasure to have the opportunity for our music to be
released by people that actually care about it – and not a crew of knot-necked
drones drooling dollar bills. It is my sincere hope that we will continue to
work with Prophecy for the unforeseeable future!

LoF: Picking
a favourite track from the album is nigh on impossible for me as they’re all
excellent tracks and each has a number of highlights and talking points – do
you have a favourite track (s), and which will be selected to play in the live
environment?

The
Gentleman: Pawn on the Universal Chessboard is my favourite; I will let
everyone else choose their own. I'm immensely proud of that song/s, and it's
the culmination all those years of both the band and my own song writing
abilities coming to some sort of fruition, I think, he says reflecting on it.
For live? Well, we wouldn't want to spoil the surprise! I suppose the most
subversive thing we could do is just to not to play any of it: that would annoy
people (and make our job easier). On reflection, that would be a bad idea.
Funny for about five minutes (to us). But ultimately, a very bad idea.

Curse:
As I have said, I couldn’t be happier with the album; but if I had to pick a
favourite, it would be Virtus Sola Invicta – those are some of my favourite
lyrics and delivery in my entire career, hands down.

Kettleburner:
I think that technically any of these tracks can be performed live, although I
don’t expect us to ever attempt to play the whole bloody album in one go
(performing an entire album in one go is much less fun than it sounds). It is all
very fun material to perform however.

LoF: Beware
the Sword You Cannot See starts very strongly with Drawing Down the Rain; why
was this track picked to premiere and will it, or other tracks from the album
be released as singles?

The
Gentleman: It was picked because it seemed the best all rounder to represent
the sound of the album. And it's not exactly concise, but compared to
Pawn/Chessboard it's much more viable as a “single”.

Kettleburner:
I doubt there will be any other singles from the album, from the point of the
album being available I would like people to see it as a whole work.

LoF: The
final six tracks combine under the title “Pawn on the Universal Chessboard” to
create a stunningly good, progressive piece of music - what’s the idea behind
this title and how do these six tracks fit into the overall story told during
the album?

Curse: The lyrical thrust of ‘Pawn…’
is aimed towards an individual passing (pissing?) through life, lost,
indefensible, horrified; It is intended to run a gamut of emotions; anger,
loss, distrust, struggle, fight, fury, frustration and death. The protagonist
is fighting for all his worth, although he starts out lost, finds himself
disoriented, and then becomes lost again. Just like real life, to my mind…

LoF: I
was fortunate to witness most of your set at Damnation last year – the venue
was extremely packed and everyone seemed to enjoy the set. How pleased were you
with your set and did you get to see many other bands during the festival?

The
Gentleman: Personally, I got to see very little of what I really wanted, but
still managed a few things. You never get to do as much as you want, just
because well, there's lots to do being in a band both before and after... As to
our own performance, I really enjoyed it, as a) we managed to all fit on the
stage, b) people actually showed up to see us and c) it went so fast I barely
recall it happening. There was a moment when the crowd starting
enthusiastically chanting “YOU'RE SHIT! YOU'RE SHIT!” which really puzzled us
until we worked they were actually saying “YORK-SHIRE! YORK-SHIRE!”. That said,
the first may well have been more appropriate.

Curse:
Aye, it was definitely ‘YOU’RE SHIT!’, ha ha.

LoF: English
underground music is thriving at present, probably enjoying its most productive
period in many years – does the standard of music being released by your fellow
countrymen bring any pressure to A Forest of Stars and what albums are you most
looking forward to hearing this year – both from UK bands and from others from
farther afield?

Kettleburner: I don’t think there’s
any real competitiveness between all the bands we have played with (aside from
the standard drummer BPM drum wars!), everyone just gets along and does their
own thing. I think it’s already out but I’m definitely looking forward to hearing
Caina’s “Setter of Unseen Snares” when I pull my finger out.

Curse:
I’m very much looking forward to receiving my copy of Ahamkara’s album and
hoping that Wodensthrone will have another out soon, and completely unable to
wait for Nhor’s next opus. It would be grand to hear more from Sleep and
Pentagram; Skepticism have just recorded theirs, so that’ll be one to wait for!
There’s so many it’s hard to say. I suppose there’s no chance of anyone
resurrecting Peter Steele?

LoF: Just
how hectic will the coming weeks be for A Forest of Stars as you prepare for
the album’s release, and have you any touring plans for the coming year?

The
Gentleman: For me, very hectic – building the 500 versions of the box set (with
Lord Grum!), a constant stream of interviews, lots of sundry promotional
duties, co-organising a tour and learning the new songs before getting back
into rehearsals very soon. None of which is meant to be a complaint; I wouldn't
have it any other way, and I cannot believe the amount of good will and
interest this record is generating before it's even been released. We would
never dare take sure a rare thing for granted and are exceedingly grateful, if
not a little bewildered by how unexpected it all is.

Kettleburner:
The reception has been great so far! Touring this year is looking likely
(although with recent experience of this, merely saying so will doom it). If
the forces of nature don’t stop this then this will happen in the second half
of the year at some point.

LoF: Having
seven members I’m sure there’s a vast range of influences brought to the
creative table of A Forest of Stars – which influences and groups would you say
have played the biggest part in the formation of your overall sound?

The
Gentleman: There is not a document long enough to hold it all! We take from
everywhere (Curse calls us Musical Magpies, which is a wonderful description)
and anyone that isn't nailed down, really. Obvious influences have to be (aside
from the usual Black Metal stuff): Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream, Swans, GSY!BE,
Steeleye Span, Kate Bush, Early John Carpenter, Fields of the Nephilim, etc,
etc...

Curse:
To add to the above, Type O Negative, Devil Doll, The Legendary Pink Dots,
Current 93, Skyclad, Coil, Shockheaded Peters, Simon and Garfunkel, Autechre,
New Model Army and on and on and on.

Kettleburner:
I think between the types of music that we like between the seven of us you
could compile pretty much the best mix-tape ever and also the worst. Aside from
the 90s black metal sound (with honourable mention to Ved Buens Ende and
Burzum), I’d say that for myself Neurosis, The Ruins of Beverast, Weakling,
early Queen, Negura Bunget, Hexvessel, Master Musicians of Bukkake, Deathspell
Omega, Gong etc have all specifically
inspired me to make music (through that strange filter we call a brain), as
well as much of what the Gentleman has mentioned already! Curse, Lungbutter,
Bishop, Katheryne and William would all give different answers to this
question.

LoF: Which
bands, past or present, would you most like to share a stage with?

The Gentleman: Impossible, but Pink Floyd for me. Though
I doubt that would be something they'd agree to and I suspect we couldn't
afford the buy on (two gold plated mansions is the going rate I heard?) even if
we were to try and elbow our way in. Current bands: Anyone that will have and
will put up with us is more than welcome, we're not fussy, just so long as
they're interesting, good people!

Curse:
Present: It’s always a pleasure to gig with Wodensthrone; I’d be honoured to
share stages with Virus, Hexvessel, Ulver, Urfaust (again)… there’s so many…
Past: it has to be Type O Negative. That band played such a part in my
formative years that I can’t put anyone else in front here.

A Forest of Star's Beware the Sword You Cannot See is released by Lupus Lounge, and can be purchased here.